Man Alters Price Tag At Lowes, Gets 10 Years In Prison

October 23, 2012

A Santa Rosa man with 206 prior felony convictions was sentenced to 10 years in state prison for altering a price tag at Lowes.

Prosecutors said Bobby Kevin Williams, 48, went to Lowe’s in Pace and asked for 130 feet of copper wire valued at $465.40 and then covered the priced tag with another one he wrote for $12. Williams then checked out, paying $12.78 for the wire. He was stopped by a Lowe’s loss prevention officer and was arrested by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office.

He was charged with grand theft and failure to appear and by a Santa Rosa County jury.

Prosecutors said most of the prior 206 convictions on Williams’ record were theft related.

Comments

21 Responses to “Man Alters Price Tag At Lowes, Gets 10 Years In Prison”

  1. Patrick on October 26th, 2012 12:16 pm

    206?!!!! Make that 207 now this is truly sad…

  2. jackie on October 25th, 2012 5:41 pm

    Cindy, to answer your question, what is Florida doing, I can answer that for you. Locking up more people per capita than any of the other 48 states to include California.

  3. downtown don on October 24th, 2012 10:31 am

    206 prior felonies??? should have got 10 years a long time ago.

  4. Really? on October 24th, 2012 7:38 am

    briarroot on October 23rd, 2012 6:15 am I thought “Grand Theft” specifically referred to theft of something worth over a “grand” … $1000.00. Don’t think they’ll be able to make that charge stick, here.

    I know it was addressed, but the term Grand in theft is in relation to the other charge which is Petit. Get it? Petit vs Grand. And the charge “did stick” because he was already convicted and sentenced. This is a case of someone who needs to know what they are talking about before they commit to a comment.

  5. Cindy on October 23rd, 2012 7:05 pm

    If he was in California, 3 strikes makes it a life time in prison. Can’t believe he has 206 felonies.. my god, what is Florida doing?

  6. Avis on October 23rd, 2012 4:40 pm

    Does this mean a penny is worth a dime?

  7. bigbill1961 on October 23rd, 2012 2:51 pm

    The problem is that when you buy something by the foot at Lowes, the clerk will hand-write the price on a sticker and affix it to the product. They need to have a printer that will let the clerk input the item description, unit price and item price, then it can generate a price tag that can be scanned at the register.

  8. MM on October 23rd, 2012 1:40 pm

    Wow! $3.57 for a foot of copper wire – costs as much as a gallon of gas.

  9. Marcus on October 23rd, 2012 11:50 am

    The whole idea is to LET him commit the illegal act all the way. Then bust him once its finished. Cmon now! Let’s use our brains today people.

    If they were to stop him before he made the purchase, then the intent can be argued in court “well he didn’t intend to check out with that same tag, he was just reminding himself of another price for another item he just stuck the tag over the other one.”

    Once he makes the purchase with the altered tag, it “without a doubt” proves that he INTENDED to commit the crime. Done and done.

    Let’s go fellow Americans, let’s get with the program here! Not rocket science!

  10. paul on October 23rd, 2012 11:19 am

    I guess he thought the clerk wasn’t smart enough to figure out the cost of copper… like they never saw that crossing their counter before.. GEEZ

  11. fred on October 23rd, 2012 11:18 am

    @mom
    I think that’s the idea, to let him complete the illegal transaction and then pop him for theft. I’ll bet that’s store policy, to complete the transaction for a price changer, alert loss prevention, then you have a crime to report.

  12. Freddie Mac on October 23rd, 2012 10:05 am

    >>Sorry, but the clerk checking him out should have caught this….$12 for copper wire….?????

    Read the story …he was stopped by a Lowe’s loss prevention officer — that’s their job not the clerk. It’s possible the clerk followed store protocol and notified loss prevention. The clerk did the right thing.

  13. mom on October 23rd, 2012 9:58 am

    Sorry, but the clerk checking him out should have caught this….$12 for copper wire….?????

  14. Molino Mom on October 23rd, 2012 7:31 am

    206 convictions-are you kidding me!!! Why was this guy even walking around free to begin with? Once again, a mockery of our justice system! RIDICULOUS!!!

  15. Pineville PI on October 23rd, 2012 7:17 am

    What a Thug….. shoulda done been locked up with all those convictions.

  16. William on October 23rd, 2012 6:55 am

    >>I thought “Grand Theft” specifically referred to theft of something worth over a “grand” … $1000.00.

    Grand theft in Florida is $300 or more.

  17. Lp on October 23rd, 2012 6:45 am

    Good for the judge! This guy is slime. He stole from his frail mom and the business his Dad left for the family. Crack is a hell of a drug. He should have got twenty.

  18. AJ on October 23rd, 2012 6:33 am

    Prior 206 convictions? Wow, they were lucky to have caught this guy at all! $12 was obviously too low, should have put $200!

  19. briarroot on October 23rd, 2012 6:15 am

    I thought “Grand Theft” specifically referred to theft of something worth over a “grand” … $1000.00. Don’t think they’ll be able to make that charge stick, here.

  20. dan on October 23rd, 2012 4:41 am

    cant stand a theif

  21. tomtom48 on October 23rd, 2012 2:01 am

    Before folks start talking… Think about this. This man is 48 and been in trouble his hole life. The Judge wants a vaction sometimes as well